Senate confirms Mary Jo White to lead SEC

The Senate on Monday confirmed Mary Jo White as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing the former federal prosecutor to take control of the agency as it tries to finish key rulemakings required by the 2010 financial reform law and last year’s JOBS Act.

The swift confirmation — which was done by unanimous consent on the first day of the Senate following a two-week recess — came as no surprise; White sailed through the Senate Banking Committee on a 21-1 vote last month.

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White’s confirmation is the first of several potential openings at the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that may surface this year.

The lone dissenter on the committee was Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who raised concerns about White’s time as a white-collar defense attorney, during which time she represented several large banks and financial firms.

“I don’t question Mary Jo White’s integrity or skill as an attorney,” he said after the committee vote. “But I do question Washington’s long-held bias toward Wall Street and its inability to find watchdogs outside of the very industry that they are meant to police.”

At her confirmation hearing, White assured senators that her past history defending big banks would not be an issue once she took over at the SEC. She said at the time that she had already consulted SEC ethics officials on detecting conflicts of interest, and that she had been advised that her potential recusals were not out of the ordinary for SEC members.

“I went through a very rigorous process of my own … to ensure I am in compliance with all ethics regulations and laws,” she told the Banking Committee.

Her nomination has been praised by both Democrats and Republicans. For instance, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told White that he would “aggressively support” her confirmation, telling her at the confirmation hearing, “The more I find out about you, the more I like you.”

“The SEC needs a strong leader in place as it works to implement Wall Street Reform, and that is exactly what the commission is getting with Mary Jo White,” Johnson said in a statement. “After meeting her, listening to her testimony and closely reviewing her qualifications, it came as no surprise that she received such overwhelming bipartisan support for her confirmation. “

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:52 p.m. on April 8, 2013.